ADMIXISTRA 710./V for
A metalled road, 882 miles long, built in 1897 and since slightly im-
proved at a total cost of 341 lakhs of rupees, runs from Quetta to Kalat.
Communications from north to south are easy. From vrest to east the
tracks follow two main lines: from Kardgap through the :Mastung valley
and over the Nishpa pass to the Bolan, and through Nlungachar and
Johan to Narmuk and to Bibi Nani in the Bolan Pass. Communica-
tions with the Mastung valley are being improved by the construction
of tracks over several of the passes.
The country is liable to frequent scarcity, but owing to the number
of kdrez it is the best-protected part of the State. The nomadic
habits of the people afford a safeguard against
famine; and, even in years when rainfall is insuffi-
cient Famine.
cient for 'dry-crop' cultivation, they manage to subsist on the pro-
duce of their flocks, supplemented by a small quantity of grain.
For purposes of administration the people, rather than the area,
may be divided into two sections : namely, those subject to the direct
jurisdiction of the Khan of Kalat, and those belong-
ing to tribal groups. The principal groups constituting Administration.
each section have been named above. The areas subject to the Khan
are divided into the two niabats of Mastung and Kalat. The Mastung
nidbat forms the charge of a mustaufi, who is assisted by a naib and a
id-naskin. Kalat is in charge of a naib. The Brahui tribesmen are
subject to the control of their chiefs, who in their turn are supervised
by the Political Agent through the Native Assistant for the Sarawan
country and the Political Adviser to the Khan. For this purpose thdna-
ddrs, recruited from the Brahuis, are posted at Alu, Mastung, and
Mungachar. In the Khan's nidbats the various officials deal with both
civil and criminal cases, subject to the supervision of the Political
Adviser to the Khan. Cases among the tribesmen, or cases occurring
between subjects of the Khan and the tribesmen, are disposed of by
the Political Agent or his staff, and are generally referred to frgas.
Cases for the possession of land or of inheritance are sometimes deter-
mined by local kdzis according to Muhammadan law.
Mastung and Kalat-i-Nichara, i. e. Kalat and the neighbourhood, are
mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbra as paying revenue in kind and furnishing
militia to Akbar. The only part of the country which has been sur-
veyed is Kahnak, where, owing to disputes between the :Rustamzai clan
of the Raisani tribe and the chief section, a record-of-rights was made
in 1899. The land is vested in a body of cultivating proprietors, who
either pay revenue or hold revenue free. The rate of revenue varies
from one-fourth to one-tenth of the produce, and is generally taken
either by appraisement or by an actual share. Of the areas subject to the
Khan, the revenue of Johan with Gazg is leased for an annual payment
in kind, and the same system is followed in other scattered tracts. In
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